The costume design too has elements of shabby chic; the boys have long, unkempt hair, and unlike David Lean's austere Oliver Twist of 1948, the snatch-and-grab-it world of Fagin's lost boys actually seems like fun.
It started with artists like Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, and Lil' Kim sporting mink and chinchilla in music videos and magazine covers, helping dope boy chic become vogue.
In truth this latest example of Hollywood's growing fascination with Bad Boy Chic (the kind of films where the men are violence-prone misfits and the women gasp and coo) has all the originality of a paper cup.
The light for all these moths is screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, the poet laureate of Bad Boy Chic, whose brassy debut as a writer-director, "Reservoir Dogs," brought so much spirited energy and enthusiasm to its blood-soaked violence that casually dismissing it couldn't be done.
Steven Wright had a stoner persona, Jimmy Carr has posh-boy chic and even these well-known guises have struggled to sustain full shows.
The mix Estelle featuring Kanye West - "American Boy" vs. Chic - "Good Times" was used as a tutorial and the mix MSTRKRFT featuring N.O.R.E. - "Bounce" (Beat Juggle) could be heard in the menu background.
Despite becoming synonymous with knitwear, casual-chic and the infamous "poor boy" sweaters – fitted ribbed jumpers with raised armholes that narrowed the torso and shoulders – her legacy is more focused on pioneering womenswear at a time when women were expected to wear sombre tones and skirts.
I let my boys keep their surfer chic and packed continental cool as well.
Obviously, there is every chance I am mincing about feeling like an extra in The Talented Mr Ripley (chic) while looking like an ageing go-go boy (tragic).
"Rabaukendisco," "Radio Blackout," and "MuSick Boy" all make dirty nylon seem chic.
